I wish everyone could get rich and famous and have everything they ever dreamed of so they would know that’s not the answer. – Jim Carrey …
When a new year hits I think we tend to automatically treat it like this new shiny thing. It is going to be Great, wonderful even… the best year yet. For me, for 2017.. it did not start out like that. I found myself broken, bitter, and yet again in this lost place… The shiny new year that I had been counting on – lost to me. Lost in the cloud of hurt and confusion that had seemed to once again find its way into my life.
You know I think life has its ups and downs for everyone. I see it all the time on the plane. Right after Christmas, I had this nightmare of a flight. We were taking off on our last leg to Charlotte. It was only a quick flight, so the crew and passengers alike were all antsy to taxi off the gate so that we could all get to our given destinations. Well, as luck would have it, a flight that should have taken two hours ended up taking six. I won’t go into the reasons for the delay, but we spent most of that time at the gate. I was standing in the back galley, trying desperately to look pleasant, trying to ignore my own aggravation that I wasn’t going to be home for a very anticipated date. This woman walked into my galley and was waiting for a bathroom to open up. I would have never known anything was wrong, but I turned to the woman and I smiled (My please don’t strangle me for the delay smile), and I asked her, “How are you holding up?” She broke down, right in my galley. She turned, sobbing, and told me her Dad had died that morning, and she was just trying to get to her family. I was at a loss of what to say but as soon as I heard that I just grabbed her and held on tight. It is definitely a weird thing, holding a complete stranger in such a personal moment, but it doesn’t matter who you are – pain feels the same. Hurt feels the same. Depression feels the same. Loss feels the same.
We scroll through Facebook looking at all the smiling, joyous faces: The girl who adventured to China. The boy who just proposed to the love of his life. The couple who celebrated over the realization that they are pregnant for the fourth time. The man who just won the lottery. We look at these faces and we feel alone, because these people ARE happy. These people have life figured out. These people are “the greener grass” that we have always been searching for.
Guess what? Here is the cold hard truth… there is no greener grass. Every single one of those perfect lives that you see floating around your computer screen has problems. Nobody likes to air their dirty laundry for the world to see. The girl you see smiling from your computer screen… There is so much MORE to that girl. She may even be going through some of the things that you are. She may be going through worse. Happiness is not some elusive unicorn that is only available to those “perfect” people you long to be like on your Instagram feed. You have to ask yourself. Are those people really happy? Is that rose gold flamingo pool float really the answer to the pursuit of happiness?
For 2017 I don’t wish to be perfectly happy. That’s unrealistic, and quite frankly nobody is. Life is so full of ups and downs, we are all just along for the ride. I do though, wish to be perfectly happy with MY life. I wish to soak in every second with the people that I love. I wish to be the craziest dancer at Zumba class. I wish to appreciate and care for my true friends. I wish to thank God every day for every blessing in my life. I wish to take the good AND the bad, and always try to find a silver lining.
If you are scrolling through Facebook right now looking for that green grass, I dare you to shut down your computer and look around you. I can almost bet that you have grass that’s just as green as everyone else’s.
- Megan Marie
